Anti dermatophytic therapy: prospects for the discovery of new drugs from natural products

Abstract

Millions of people and animals suffer from superficial infections caused by a group of highly specialized filamentous fungi, the dermatophytes, which only infect keratinized structures. With the appearance of AIDS, the incidence of dermatophytosis has increased. Current drug therapy used for these infections is often toxic, long-term, and expensive and has limited effectiveness; therefore, the discovery of new anti dermatophytic compounds is a necessity. Natural products have been the most productive source for new drug development. This paper provides a brief review of the current literature regarding the presence of dermatophytes in immunocompromised patients, drug resistance to conventional treatments and new anti dermatophytic treatments.

Phytochemical property and assessment of antidermatophytic activity of some selected wild macrofungi against pathogenic dermatophytes

“…Besides the prevalence of resistance of dermatophytes, many synthetic antifungal drugs had also been associated with some adverse side effects such as hepatotoxicity, nausea, diarrhoea and impotency (Del Palacio et al 2000). This occurs as result of cellular similarities between the fungi and mammalian, which make the treatment of dermatophyte infections to be tedious, expensive and time consuming (Soares et al 2013). Hence, there is a need to provide affordable and appropriate treatment for dermatophyte infections without side effects.…”

Species identification of dermatophytes in paraffin-embedded biopsies with a new polymerase chain reaction assay targeting the internal transcribed spacer 2 region and comparison with histopathological features

“…There have been reports about development of resistance to antifungal drugs, 25 especially in the group of azoles 4 and against terbinafine. 26 It has been suggested that T. rubrum may become resistant to terbinafine due to missense mutation in the squalene epoxidase gene leading an amino acid substitution. 27 Recent efforts in dermatophyte genome sequencing and transcriptome and proteome analysis provide information to develop new specific drugs.…”

Antifungal mechanism of action ofSchinus lentiscifoliusMarchand essential oil and its synergistic effectin vitrowith terbinafine and ciclopirox against dermatophytes

“…In this context, several studies have been conducted to explore new active substances as an alternative to the conventional therapy or its complementation . Like a multitarget approach, the combination therapy has been used as a strategy for the lack of new antimicrobial drugs .…”

“…[4] In this context, several studies have been conducted to explore new active substances as an alternative to the conventional therapy or its complementation. [5,6] Like a multitarget approach, the combination therapy has been used as a strategy for the lack of new antimicrobial drugs. [7,8] Therefore, the identification of synergistic associations has been the focus of several studies evaluating antifungal combination therapies.…”